


Episode X: Force Dyad

by faebeast



Category: Star Wars Sequel Trilogy
Genre: Canon Compliant, F/M, Post-Canon Fix-It
Language: English
Status: In-Progress
Published: 2020-03-07
Updated: 2020-03-24
Packaged: 2021-03-01 03:07:50
Rating: Teen And Up Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 10
Words: 9,292
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/23048287
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/faebeast/pseuds/faebeast
Summary: With Ben Solo dead, Rey seeks to pick back up the pieces of her life. But Palpatine's death seems to have set off a chain reaction of violence from his loyalists. With the help of Force-sensitive Finn, Rey seeks to find out what is causing the disruptions, while Poe and Rose uncover a dark plot involving the newly liberated Storm Troopers.Meanwhile, Ben Solo finds out he is not, in fact dead. Stuck in the World Between Worlds, Ben finds out that he may not be the only survivor from the battle against Palpatine. Stranded, he must find a way out in order to warn Rey of the evil that remains hidden.
Relationships: Rey/Ben Solo | Kylo Ren
Comments: 3
Kudos: 5





	1. Chapter 1

**Author's Note:**

> So... yeah... I hated TROS. Like pretty much all of it. So this is my attempt to clean things up a little.
> 
> Also, Star Wars does not belong to me.

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> Rey has to deal with some serious issues...

Ben was dead.  
The poison of that thought seeped into her every waking moment. There were times when she forgot. The weight lifted from her shoulders and she could feel a smile creep its way across her lips, felt the shattered pieces of her heart meld themselves back together.  
But then there’d be the quiet. The vacuous, mind breaking quiet. She had spent so much time with Ben in her head, she’d forgotten what it was like to be alone.  
She hated it. Her interactions with Ben had hardly been peaceful, barely even civil. But there had been moments of quiet together. Like the time she had awakened to see him lying in the bed beside her. They had stared at each other distrustfully for a while.  
Ben spoke first. “I’m too tired for this.” Indeed, he did look tired. Rolling over, he pulled the blanket over his shoulder. She looked at his dark outline, thinking about pushing him off. But she was too tired too.  
“Fine,” she said, rolling over so she was turned away from him. The heat of his back permeated through the sheets and against hers. It wasn’t long before his breathing eased into a soothing rhythm. The sound of his breath relaxed her, and soon she too had drifted off to sleep.  
At some point their unspoken barrier had been broken and when she awakened, she found herself leaning into his shoulder, his hand pressed over her stomach. He had woken first, she realized. For how long, she did not know. But when she looked at him, he was watching her in that quiet way of his, like he had known her her whole life and knew secrets about herself that she didn’t even know.  
She couldn’t breathe. The memory was too fresh, too painful. Waking in her sparse hut on Tattooine, she wrapped her arms tightly around herself, trying to stifle her sobs. Her friends were offworld, encouraging her to come to them and help with rebuilding. But she couldn’t leave yet. Tattooine was all she had of Ben. There was no body.  
“Ben?” she sobbed into the darkness. “Ben.” Why hadn’t he come to her? Just one more word, one more chance to say good-bye. What was the Force doing? How could it all come to this? She lay awake long into the night, her chest so heavy, she could hardly breathe. Dark thoughts began to fill her.  
This was the doing of that ridiculous battle between the Sith and the Jedi; the Light and the Dark. If it hadn’t been for them, she might have taken Ben’s hand. Who knew how things would have changed? She would find what remained of the First Order, the Sith, the Jedi, and she would burn them all down.  
Yes. The darkness inside of her responded. Tear it all down.  
She could do it. She was powerful. The Force invaded every fiber of her being. She could sense the slightest move of the sand outside her hut, the settling of its foundations. Since Exegol, anything and everything had a sharpened feel, an immediacy unlike anything she’d felt before. With just a snap of her fingers, she could see herself swirling the sands into a violent dust storm, drowning everyone in its path.  
She shot up from her cot, drenched in sweat. She couldn’t do that. There had already been so much death. A ray of light dripped into her room and she went over to the wash basin and splashed her face. As she did so, she caught a glimpse of her reflection in the dusty mirror. Red eyes stared back with sharp fangs. Jumping back with a shout, the glass shattered to pieces and the hut shook so violently, she held her hands up to keep the ceiling from falling on top of her. The shaking subsided and she managed a glimpse of herself in the wash basin, feeling her teeth. All felt normal, her own hazel eyes stared back at her, tired but certainly not red.  
Sitting against the wall, she hugged her knees to her chest. She had a bad feeling about this.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> The lack of mourning in TROS for Ben was pretty pitiful. The whole movie was so jarring and poorly edited. Hopefully this adds a little more depth after Rey's shock in TROS has worn off.


	2. Chapter 2

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> Ben is surprised to wake up.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Fan service alert! But hopefully in a good way.

For as long as he could remember, Ben Solo had always been afraid of the dark. Snoke’s voice, telling him of all his faults, letting him see his parents' arguments, was always loudest at night. He begged his parents to leave a light on, and when he was too old for it, he would wait for them to go to bed before turning on a small night light.  
As Kylo Ren, he shrouded himself in the darkness. Use your fears. Make them your ally, Snoke had told him. He feared the dark. He would make others fear it too.  
Waking up to total darkness, Han and Leia’s son felt that old fear wash over him again. Then he saw the stars shining all around him, forming constellations and galaxies of which he had no recollection.  
He sat up, his body protesting at the interruption from whatever black slumber he’d been in.  
Wait.  
He was dead.  
Wasn’t he?  
There had been that impossible climb up the pit, muscles straining as he pulled himself up, fearful of what he’d find once he reached the top. Then Rey’s lifeless form… the memory gutted him and he looked around for her. But there was nothing here, just endless stars and black. Up ahead, the stars seemed to congregate into a path.  
Getting to his feet, he cast about for any sign of… anything. Another memory came to him, of Rey’s lips pressed hard against his, her hands pulling at his hair. Of course he would die then. It was the one thing he had ever dared to want for himself.  
He reached out into the Force and found… nothing. Closing his eyes, he quieted his mind and tried to connect to the cosmic force he had felt even as a small baby.  
And was met with only silence.  
Ben Solo was no longer connected to the Force. Cold fear swept over him again. He must be dead, in that place where failures of the Sith and Jedi found themselves alone and disconnected for all eternity. It was a fitting fate for Kylo Ren.  
“Long time waiting for you, I have been,” said a strange old voice from behind him. Ben jumped, reaching for a lightsaber that was no longer at his side. A small green figure stood just a few feet from him, with long, pointed ears and a dark gray cloak. Ben knew him instantly.  
“Yoda?”


	3. Chapter 3

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> Peace hasn't quite come to the galaxy yet.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> It was unclear (to me at least) if the "Sith ghost" were ghosts or people or followers or what. So I decided to make them Palpatine cultists like the Vader cultists at the beginning of the movie.

“There have been some… uprisings, I guess you could say,” Poe said dryly. He looked awkward in his navy blue uniform, marking him as the New Republic’s interim President. Coruscant had become the unofficial capital of the new government, whatever it was going to be, and numerous senior leaders had filled the meeting room. Finn stood close to Rey, clearly sensing her exhaustion.   
“You ok?” he asked as casually as he could.  
She shrugged. She had left Tatooine the same day as her vision, but things had not gotten better. Her mind often wandered to darker, untamed thoughts. Even now, she was wondering what would happen if she killed everyone in the room.   
I think Palpatine must have gotten his power inside of me, she projected across to him. In a moment of quiet, Finn had finally expressed his suspicions that he was Force sensitive. It made sense. Something about him had always seemed so… near. Like two travelers on the same road, too far to see one another, yet seeing the signs of the other’s existence.  
His eyes widened as he looked at her. Can you hear my thoughts too?  
She nodded. No need to shout.  
He grinned at her sheepishly.   
“What do you mean by fanatics?” The voice belonged to Edu Bardabar, president of the trade federation.  
Poe waved his hand vaguely. “We had received word some months ago of Kylo Ren purging followers of Darth Vader on Mustafar. There seem to be more of them, some that seem to be aligned to Vader and some to Palpatine. They are going planet to planet committing domestic acts of terror. There are patrols of the rescued stormtroopers taking them on, but we need more manpower.” Poe looked across the room at her hopefully. “I thought it might be something our Jedi could help us with.”  
“I’m not a Jedi,” Rey snapped, with more venom than she’d intended. The coalition looked at her with surprise.  
She did her best to smile. “Jedi seems like such a formal title. But I would be very willing to help.” She nodded at Finn. “I would like my Padawan to assist me.” She could hardly keep herself from smiling.  
Finn’s mouth dropped but he nodded his agreement. “What do you need Rey and I to do?”


	4. Chapter 4

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> Ben learns of evil that continues to lurk somewhere int he galaxy...

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> As much as I hated the reveal, I'm trying to keep this as mostly cannon as possible by keeping Rey as a Palpatine (barf!)

“So Exegol was so hard to get to because it exists on another plane? A plane of reality created by the Force?” Ben said, looking around in disbelief. He had read about the Vergence theory while studying under Luke, but the reality of it still jolted him. He and Yoda sat together, a near invisible road beneath them in a sea of stars.  
Yoda nodded sagely, a cane balanced on his knee. “Saved you, your mother did. Her life force kept you locked in this plane. Or dead, you would be.”  
“So I’m not dead?” His thoughts wandered instantly to Rey.   
Yoda whacked his knuckle with the cane. “Clear your mind, you must, young Solo.”  
Ben grimaced in pain, holding his hand. “How did you do that? I thought you were a Force ghost.”  
The little green man cocked his head. “Alive I am. Your uncle has just left his training to confront Vader and save his friends.”  
Surprise filled him. “You mean… you’re from the past?” Now that he was really looking at Yoda, he realized he had nothing of the blue haze Luke had mentioned of Force ghosts. He was very much in the flesh. “How do you know so much? If you’ve only just met my uncle, how do you know who I am?”  
Yoda shrugged. “Past. Present. Future. To the Force, they are all the same.” He looked above them. “Dreamed, have I, of this place. Things I have seen. Futures, possibilities. The Force allows us to see it all.” Looking at Ben pointedly, he said, “spared your life, the Force has. For what purpose, you must find.”  
“But I can’t feel the Force. I don’t think… I don’t think I can use it anymore.”  
“To Rey, you gave that part of you. Alive, it will keep her. Though for not much longer.”  
A cold chill filled Ben. “What do you mean?”  
Standing, Yoda pointed at the stars. “Possibilities are infinite as these stars. Corrupted she has been by the spirit of Darth Sidious.”  
“But she defeated him. With the help of the light side!”  
Yoda shook his head. “Great is his power. Great is his longing to live. Balanced the Force must be. So long as the Dark Side lives, so will he. Destroy her, the battle of light and dark inside her will.”  
Ben jumped to his feet. “What must I do?”  
Holding up his hand, Yoda said, “Sidious lives so long as his true body lives. Hidden it somewhere, he has.”  
“I don't suppose you know where?”  
To his surprise, Yoda nodded. “Mortis.”  
“But no one knows how to get there!”  
“And Ben Solo is dead, is he?” Yoda shook his head. “Between realms it is. His body calls to the spirit of Sidious. Lead you to it, Rey will.” His face soured. “If uncorrupted she remains.”  
Ben nodded. He must get to Rey. But how? “How do I get out of here?”  
“That you must determine.” He pointed an aged finger at the path. “Mirrors you will find. Events you know, people you know. You must not change the past. But in the mirrors you will find other pathways. Worlds upon worlds. A window into the present, find you must.”  
“But how long does Rey have? What if I can’t get to her in time?”  
“Questions. Always questions with you, young Solo. Much like your grandfather you are.” Yoda pursed his lips in displeasure. “To the Light you are. But there is the dark side in you too. You must use both to fight the evil that lurks within Rey.” He pointed his cane down the starry path. “Trust yourself, you must. Access the Force you can’t, but guide you, it will.”  
“You’re exactly the way my uncle described,” Ben huffed.  
Yoda began to hobble the opposite direction. “Leave I must. Not much time left for me. Await your uncle’s return, I will.”  
Ben hesitated. When Ben had found out about Vader on the holos, he had demanded Luke tell him everything. After Luke’s confrontation with Vader, he had returned to find Yoda dying. Had using the force for this moment with him killed Yoda?  
Yoda held up a hand. “The Force guides us all young Solo.” With that, the sage old Jedi Master hobbled his way down the starry path and disappeared into a dark circle in the wall.  
Alone again, and with the comforting knowledge that he was, in fact, not dead, Ben turned his way down the path, seeking a way out.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> First, can we really pretend that Rey hitting Palpatine with his own lightning didn't count as her striking him down? Girl is possessed!
> 
> Secondly, I liked the idea of tying in the originals by having Yoda's death linked him helping Ben Solo. It could even link in with the idea that "there is another" Skywalker (Ben NOT Rey!). 
> 
> Thirdly, I reread Sabriel recently, which gave me the idea of finding Palpatine's real body. Highly recommend that book!


	5. Chapter 5

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> Rose finds out something weird is going on with the stormtroopers.

Rose stared at the bouncing lines on the holo screen, still puzzling over their meaning. “What do you mean by all of the stormtroopers?”  
The formal Rebel nurse turned head Chief Resident coughed nervously. The was barely older than Rose, yet like Rose she was pantomiming for a role she didn’t fit, the way Rose and Paige used to wear their mother’s uniform when they imagined themselves fighting the Empire.   
“Well, I can’t say all the ones out there. But all the ones that have been quarantined.” She pointed again at the blip. “Somehow… it’s like the stormtroopers have two consciousnesses.”  
A shiver ran down Rose’s spine. She looked at the former stormtrooper. He was barely a man, pale and thin under the intrusive light of the lab equipment. Blue eyes looked vacantly at the ceiling. It had been Finn’s idea to rehabilitate the remaining stormtroopers. A group of former stormtroopers he’d met was assisting with rounding up as many as they could and bringing them to Coruscant.  
Finn’s sentiments were valiant and understandable, if misplaced. Most of the stormtroopers had been under the First Order’s reprogramming for years. Their ragtag group of doctors and scientists were making very little headway into reversing the damage. They had nearly fifty stormtroopers now, each in stasis until they could figure out what, if anything, could be done with them. This finding of additional brainwaves was just one more headache for Rose, who’d much rather be repurposing the fleet of Star Destroyers or fixing the X-Wings.  
“Does Finn know?” she asked.  
“He hasn’t returned with Master Skywalker yet.”  
Of course he hadn’t. It had been over a year, but Rose still felt her cheeks burning whenever Finn was involved. Tact was not her strong suit, Paige had always said. She’d meant it when she’d kissed him on Crait. The awkward moments afterwards, his stuttering explanations… she’d begun to wish she had been the one to explode in a blaze of glory.   
It was always Rey though, with him. Always running off with Rey.  
“So what’s this thing about two brains or whatever?” Poe Dameron’s strong voice chimed into her thoughts as the doors slid open. He’d removed his presidential robes now that the other heads of state were gone and was back in his dusty old pilot uniform. The tense lines had softened around his eyes and his hair was slightly messy. Poe Dameron, back in his element.  
The Resident spoke up. “He’s in suspended stasis. So his brain waves are at rest.” She pointed to another line on the screen. It blipped every few seconds to remind them that their patient was alive. She pointed at the other line, which actively whirred and swirled. “Yet, somehow, there is some sort of additional brain activity picking up. I’ve scanned all the stormtroopers and it’s appeared in every single one of them. It’s like…” she pressed her lips together. “On Naboo. There are these insects. Beezelkrigs. They operate in hives, with a queen instructing all her drones on their duties.”  
Poe crossed his arms. “So what are you saying? Something is controlling the stormtroopers? Some sort of unseen queen?”  
The Resident shrugged. “I don’t know. I would like to check some of the rescued Stormtroopers though. See if they have it too.”  
“But you don’t think they will?” Rose quipped.  
She shook her head. “It may be what enabled them to break free of the programming.” She placed a hand on the knobs along the stormtrooper’s head.  
“What are you doing?” Poe asked.  
“I’m seeing if there is a way we can trace the origin of the brain wave. Kind of like a frequency. If I can trace it back, maybe we can find out who or what is causing the wave.” As her hand brushed the stormtroopers temple, Rose thought she saw his hand flinch. She was about to suggest they tie him down when the stormtrooper’s hand shot out, grabbing the poor Chief’s neck and crushing her trachea.   
The boy, who had seemed so weak before was now sitting up, his eyes still unseeing as he jumped down from the table, grasping a scalpel from the medical table. Rose dove under a table as he threw himself at her. A loud blast sounded and she looked up to see Poe hovering behind her with a blaster. Looking back at the stormtrooper, he clasped a bloodied fist to his temple before crumpling dead to the ground.  
Poe knelt beside her, checking her for injuries. “You alright?” he cried.  
She nodded. “What the-” Before she could finish her thought, an alert sounded overhead.  
“What now?” Poe snapped, grabbing a communicator. “Report!”  
Several loud growls sounded over the comm. Poe reached into his pocket and tossed a small blaster to Rose. “Come on,” he snapped. “Chewie says the confined stormtroopers are going haywire. They’re all trying to break out!” Without waiting to see if she was ready, Poe ran out the door. Rose sighed heavily. Of course he would enjoy this.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Full disclosure: I was not a fan of Rose Tico in TLJ. Her character just fell flat for me. However, I accepted that she was going to be a pivotal part of TROS and read a lot of fanfictions that made me excited to see the character's potential. Her being sidelined and the whole Finn thing being untouched was just bad writing.


	6. Chapter 6

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> Rey and Finn go after Sith cultists.

“So they call themselves the Sith Eternal,” Finn said dubiously, reading over the holos they’d gathered for their mission.  
“And they revere the Sith?” Rey asked. They were in an X-Wing on their way to Corellia, the latest planet to be hit with an attack. Thinking of Corellia hurt. Han was from there- he and his family had lived there for a time. She wondered about the Solo family household, where it might be. Perhaps she could seek it out. But to what purpose?  
“Rey?” Finn was looking at her expectantly and she realized he’d asked her a question.  
“Sorry… I was just…”  
“Thinking about him.” Finn didn’t bother to hide his displeasure. He was the only one she’d confided in about Ben turning. She hadn’t shared about the kiss, she couldn’t imagine what he’d say to that, but his intuitiveness with the Force would certainly enable him to guess there was more.  
“Thinking about all of them,” she said, finally. “Leia. Han… Ben. They’re all dead.”  
“Kylo Ren chose his fate. His parents are dead because of it.”  
“I know… it’s just… you didn’t know him in the end.”  
“And you think you did?”  
How could she explain? From the outside, it was true. She and Ben had barely spent any actual time together. Yet she knew him implicitly, as he knew her. Her grip tightened as she steered the X-Wing closer to land.  
“There’s smoke,” Finn shouted, pointing east. Sure enough, they could make out a harbor doused in flames. Nearing the wreckage, Rey could make out the symbol of the Sith. She smiled, filled with an inexplicable bloodlust.  
“We’ll land further back. See if we can find anyone,” she said. Not waiting for a reply, she bucked the X-Wing backwards and swooped it in, using the Force to smooth its flight as they landed on a deserted dock. Finn whistled.  
“Didn’t know the Force could do that!”  
“You seem to sense it very easily,” she said, dislodging herself from her seat and tossing her helmet off. Lightsaber in hand, she pointed in the direction of the smoke. “I can sense several people there. Ill intent. Can you sense it?”  
Finn closed his eyes, brows furrowed. “Maybe. Seems like there may be… four of them?”  
She nodded. “Very good.”  
He looked pointedly at her lightsaber. “When do I get one of those?”  
“When we have the time to find you a kyber crystal.” Having used Luke and Leia’s crystals to create her own lightsaber, Rey didn’t have the first idea where else they would get more. The Jedi texts had plenty to say about kyber crystals themselves, but little in the way of where to find them.  
“For now,” she said, “you’ll have to trust your instincts. Let them guide you.” Shooting him a playful grin, she said, “Maybe I’ll even teach you to lift a rock.”  
He rolled his eyes. “Great.”

The two traveled quietly down the harbor. Despite being a populous planet, they had yet to see a single soul, which didn’t bode well for this being a peaceful excursion. Rey’s lightsaber gleamed in the dimmed out atmosphere, adding an eerie sheen to the scene. Finn stayed close beside her, blaster out. They could sense they were being watched, but Rey was unsure yet as to where their would be attackers hid.  
“You’re feeling this, right?” Finn asked nervously, looking around. She nodded. A large  
ship was on fire ahead, the flames nearly twelve feet high. Rey reached out and pulled the flames further up, shaping them into a giant fireball, then rocketing the fireball into the nearby ocean. A heavy mist blanketed the two of them as they continued their cautious reconnaissance.  
“Add that to the list of things to teach me,” Finn said.  
She was about to smile when four dark figures emerged from the mist. They wore black robes, like the ones she had seen on Exogol. They were chanting as they walked in perfect symmetry, each holding blasters. One on each end held something familiar. Green lightsabers.  
Finn gawked. “Are they… Sith?”  
“I don’t know.” Why wouldn't they have red lightsabers? She couldn’t sense the Force from any of them either. In fact, she couldn’t sense anything at all. No thoughts, no emotions. Just a strangely familiar presence, twisted and wicked.  
Stepping forward, she brandished her lightsaber. “I am Rey Skywalker. I come on behalf of the Galactic Republic. You are in violation of our armistice. Surrender now!”  
The four figures neither heeded her nor stopped their approach. Rey eyed Finn to make sure he was ready, then took a running leap at them.  
The Force flurried all around her as she met the red blade of the nearest Sith Eternal. Jettisoning herself from the ground, she swooped behind him and brought her lightsaber back.  
Only to be met with air. Looking up, she was surprised to see the Sith Eternal launched in the air and come down on her. With just a moment to spare, she leapt out of the way and blocked off the first blow. She could hear Finn’s blaster as she spun around and clashed with the second Sith Eternal’s lightsaber. One Force push and she knocked the second cultist back just in time to face off with the first, whose hood had fallen back.  
Finally face to face, she could see that the Sith Eternal was around Ben's age, though his hair wasn't near as dark. His eyes stared back at her, devoid of either hate or fear, eyes as blank as an android.  
Before she could speak to him, the cultist forced her back. She found herself faced with the two of them, swiveling their red lightsabers. She could sense Finn in a blaster duel with one of the cultists, the other lay dead.  
Assured of Finn's safety for now, she returned her focus on the other two. Swiveling her lightsaber, she and the Sith Eternals circled each other slowly, trying to gauge their next moves. The hooded one struck first, attempting to use his own strength to knock her down. Staggering backwards, Rey allowed him to think her off balance. When he swiveled to strike her, he was met with her lightsaber in his chest.  
Rey let out a wild yell, an inexplicable sense of glee filling her as she turned her attention to the unhooded Sith Eternal. His eyes remained emotionless, yet there was something calculating behind them. Making a decision, the cultist turned and ran in the opposite direction.  
With a loud cry, Rey propelled herself into the air, lightsaber held high overhead. He was a step too slow as she knocked him to the ground, lightsaber slicing through his spine. She yelled again, sensing the Dark Side all around her, more present and tempting than anything she had felt before.  
“Are you alright?”  
Finn’s voice brought her back from the brink and she staggered off the corpse, hands shaking. Finn observed her worriedly, blaster held somewhat defensively. The other two Sith Eternals lay dead behind him. His eyes traveled worriedly to her lightsaber. Following his gaze, she realized the yellow light was beginning to crackle and hiss. She dropped the lightsaber before the crystal could crack.  
“I…” she was breathless, hardly able to stand. Why had she killed this man? They needed answers from him. He’d been running away, catching him should have been easy. Her knees buckled, but Finn caught her before she could fall.  
“I’m alright,” she muttered, trying unsuccessfully to regain her footing.  
“So, it’s true. Palpatine lives within you.”  
Rey and Finn looked up at the new speaker, to see a graying bearded man in tan robes. There was a blue shimmer around him.  
Finn gasped. “Is that…”  
Rey nodded. “That is Luke Skywalker.”

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> I got the term "Sith Eternals" from some of the reveals that have been coming from the novelizations. As far as I know, there was really no resolution of what happened to these people.
> 
> Also, I can't write Finn's dialogue without hearing The Farce Awakens Finn's voice 😂 If you haven't seen their channel on YouTube, subscribe now!


	7. Chapter 7

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> Ben tries to find his way out of the World Between Worlds when he finds a familiar scene.

Time seemed nonexistent in the World Between Worlds. Ben had walked for so far and so long, yet he couldn’t make out anything that looked relatively promising. Several mirrors would open up as he traipsed along, showing scenery of far off places he didn’t recognize. At one point, he spied Hosnian Prime, which he turned away from guiltily.   
Sometimes he saw people, though he recognized no one.. A number of scenes looked like something pulled from his old history books about the Old Republic. Sometimes he saw strange creatures or bustling cities. Nothing ever looked back at him.   
Finally, exhausted, he sat down along the starry path and looked around hopelessly. There was no beginning or end in sight, and none of the mirrors seemed to be set up in any particular order. He thought he’d recognized Naboo in one, but it had been a lush garden, with no indication as to when the scene was taking place. He didn’t trust he’d be able to step back into the World Between Worlds and couldn’t risk being stranded in the past or future. There had to be a way to find some place in the present, any place, and then find a way of transportation back to Rey. He was sure the Resistance would set up in Coruscant, if he could just find a way to get there.  
Another mirror opened to his right and he looked at it tiredly. It showed nothing other than a murky old cavern, dark and completely devoid of any indication of what planet or time. He was about to get up and start off again, when a figure appeared.   
Rey.   
Jumping to his feet, he ran to get a closer look at her. Her hair was a little shorter than the last time he’d seen her, face a little less worn. He took in every detail of her narrow chin, the way her chestnut hair stuck to her face. She was staring longingly into something, hand held out.   
“Please,” she said quietly. “Show me who my parents are.”  
He knew this moment. The cave in Ach-to. Soon, she would have no answer. Rather than go to Luke, she would come to him. He remembered his bewilderment at that moment, the feel of her pain and anguish as the bond had opened up. The relief in her eyes when she’d seen him, the tears still brimming in her eyes.  
Instinctively, he stepped forward, yearning to take her into his arms. Just as he was about to break the barrier and step through, he stopped himself, heeding Yoda’s words. He should not change the past.  
Pulling back, he watched the disappointment in her eyes as she was met with no answer, just her own empty reflection staring back. Fighting back tears, she turned around and stumbled away from him, disappearing into the shadows of Ach-to.  
Ben stood at the mirror a long time, fighting every impulse he had to go after her. Old regrets washed over him. Regret that Luke had intervened when their hands had met across the galaxy. Regret at asking her to join him. What had he been thinking in that moment? Why hadn’t he just rescued her friends? At the time, continuing on with the First Order had seemed his only option. He had killed his father, done nothing to stop the destruction of Hosnian Prime. Not to mention the countless crimes he’d committed on Snoke’s- Palpatine’s behalf. He’d believed then that there was no going back, no redemption.  
Even now, staring at the empty cave, he was filled with sudden doubt. If he somehow got out of here, there was so much he had to answer for. He’d be lucky if he wasn’t executed on the spot. Closing his eyes, he took in a deep breath, centering himself as he had with the Force. If Rey was going to live, he would have to get out of here. Regardless of the consequences.   
With renewed determination, he turned from the mirror and looked at the endless sea of stars, trying to chart out a course. As he did so, he spied a part of stars that was especially dark. Curious, he stepped a little closer and was surprised to see the dark area getting bigger. Surprise melted into alarm as he realized it was not a dark area but a dark shape. A shape that was getting closer.  
The ground beneath him began to reverberate from the weight of whatever it was. Casting about, he mulled his options. He could run the opposite direction, but for how long? And to where? Whatever this was might easily outlast him. Closer now, he could just guess at the creature’s identity, though he was slow to accept it.  
A chrysalis beast. A twisted mutation of the Sith, this particular type was one of Palpatine’s own creations, made from the twisted form of a rancor. It’s skin was green and slimy, like it had been crafted from bubbling mud. It was the size of a rancor but the claws were much longer, sharper. The teeth dripped with venom.  
Well within view now and seeing him, the chrysalis beast reared its ugly, cavernous head and let out a guttural cry. Ben stepped back, reflexively reaching into the Force only to be reminded there was nothing there. Flexing his fingers, he was reminded of how he’d thrown his lightsaber away.   
Perhaps that had been a mistake.  
The chrysalis beast was now at full speed, charging him head on. Fighting was beyond question without weapon and Force. Looking back at the mirror into Ach-to, he hesitated. Would he be able to get back? Or would he be stuck in the past?   
Another cry from the beast forced his decision and he plunged headfirst through the mirror. The change was jarring and he found himself briefly upside down in a pile of rocks. Righting himself, he had only the briefest moments of relief to be breathing in real air when the head of the chrysalis pushed through the mirror as well. Being much bigger than him, it staggered its head and shoulders through. From where Ben stood, it looked like the chrysalide was being birthed from a rock wall.   
Grabbing the biggest boulder he could, Ben hurled it at the creature as hard as he could, temporarily stunning it. He took another large boulder and smashed it over the chrysalide's head. The chrysalide managed to get one clawed hand through the mirror and into his side. With a cry, he smacked the hand away with the boulder before smashing the chrysalide’s skull in.   
Managing to pull away before the chrysalide could claw him again, he staggered backwards and clasped his throbbing side. The chrysalis beast’s body slumped the rest of the way through the mirror, which shimmered and solidified into a glassy rock wall. Ben tested the wall, but only his reflection looked back at him. No sign of the world between worlds.   
Of course.  
Grasping his side, he looked around with the weak hope that there might be another mirror somewhere. Yoda had said the Force would guide him, yet it didn’t seem to want to guide him to a way back. Sighing, he decided to make his way through the cavern and back to the surface. Ach-to was like Exogol, a planet between planes, so hopefully he could find some sort of way out of here. Rey had mentioned the caretakers of the island, perhaps he should seek them out. He would just have to be sure to stay clear of his uncle.   
The climb to the surface was grueling, especially with his tender and bleeding side. He could not remember a time when he hadn’t been able to access the Force in some way to assist him, especially injured as he was. There was at least one upside to being Kylo Ren, though. Ben was used to pain, he was used to pushing himself past his limits, and he was used to dire consequences if he didn’t.   
By the time he emerged on the surface, heaving and covered in sweat, his body could no longer go on and he collapsed, vomiting from the effort. Laying in the dirt, he was lucid enough to enjoy the sensation of the sun on his back, the soft dirt under his fingers.   
Something whirred over his head and he rolled over, to be met by a familiar scene, one that had haunted his dreams for the last decade.  
Luke Skywalker standing over him, lightsaber drawn.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Who doesn't love two cliff hangers with Luke Skywalker?


	8. Chapter 8

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> Rose and Poe have to figure out why the stormtroopers are going crazy.

“What a mess,” Poe remarked, rolling over the last of the dead stormtroopers. He was covered in dirt and blood, yet he could barely contain a smile.   
Rose took a much more somber approach. They had been keeping the stormtroopers in a warehouse that had been rigged up into makeshift stasis chambers. The stormtroopers had proven too volatile to trust them awake, so stasis had seemed the best option.  
The dead bodies of stormtroopers and Resistance members strewn about the warehouse showed how short-sighted that plan had been. Chewie dropped another stormtrooper unceremoniously into the pile.   
“Chewie!” Rose snapped. The Wookie looked at her in bafflement. “They’re people. You can’t just toss them around like that!”  
He grumbled at her.  
“It’s not their fault. The First Order made them this way!”  
“But the First Order didn’t do this,” Poe interjected. When Rose and Poe had arrived at the warehouse, all the stormtroopers had escaped their stasis chambers and were trying to break out of the warehouse into the streets. Like the stormtrooper in the lab, they were abnormally strong, especially after the effects of a stasis chamber, and seemingly determined to go the same direction.  
Rose and Poe had joined the fray in time to stop the stormtroopers’ escape, worried about the damage they might do to the Coruscant civilians, but the cost was much higher. Seven Resistance fighters lay dead, along with all the stormtroopers. Try as she might, there had been no reasoning with the stormtroopers and there was no time for any other option.   
These people didn’t ask to be this way. Now, even with Palpatine dead, their freedom had been stripped from them. Weariness seeped into her bones. Weariness that war would never end. Even if they somehow managed to get the intergalactic government up and running again, it would only be a matter of time for the next Palpatine to rise, the next Kylo Ren.  
She wondered about Kylo Ren. Rey had said very little about him since Exegol, other than that he was dead. There were few people Rey confided in, and lately Rose wasn’t one of them, but she’d had the sense that there was much more to the two of them. In many ways, Kylo Ren had been a pawn too, though much more culpable than the dead stormtroopers laying at her feet.   
Feeling a hand on her shoulder, she looked up to find Poe looking at her. “You alright there?”  
Shrugging, she said, “Just tired.”  
He nodded with understanding. “Probably not going to like my next idea then.”  
“What now?” Rose’s general rule was the happier Poe seemed, the more she should be worried. And he was positively gleeful.  
“I’ve called back Lando and the Falcon.”  
So far, not terrible. Definitely worry more.  
“And I’ll be calling back Rey and Finn.”  
“Just say what you’re going to say,” Rose snapped. “Why are you calling them back?”  
He smiled at her rakishly. “Isn’t it obvious?”  
“No, Poe, it isn’t,” she said, crossing her arms.  
“Well, all this hive mind stuff. It has to be connected to Palpatine.”  
Rose laughed. “He’s dead, Poe.”  
Now Poe laughed. “Right. Just like the last time. I’m telling you, this has to do with Palpatine somehow. The cultists attacking, the stormtroopers going haywire. It’s all connected. Which is why we need the Falcon.”  
“Because…”  
“Because I put a tracking system in it.”  
“A tracking system to where?”  
“Back to Exegol.”  
Exegol. After the battle with the Final Order, the strange Sith planet had mysteriously disappeared. No wonder Poe was so excited.  
“So you want to go to Exegol?”  
“I think we need to. If there will be any answers to what is going on, it will be there. Besides,” he added with a shrug, “what better place for the cultists to make their base than a planet that no one can find?”  
Rose nodded. Unfortunately, it made sense. “Alright, Poe,” she said dejectedly. “You may actually be right for once.”


	9. Chapter 9

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> Time for an awkward family reunion.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Some of the references Ben makes in this chapter refer to events in The Rise of Kylo Ren comic series. I didn't go into too much detail so as not to spoil them.

Ben slowly held his hands up. He was shaking all over. Years later, and he was still terrified of his uncle. So much of what he’d done on Crait had been reactive, a way to save face so the rest of the First Order couldn’t see how afraid he was. He was suddenly grateful he couldn’t use the Force or he was sure he’d have done something stupid by now.  
Luke looked him over, face stern and resolute. “What are you doing here, Kylo Ren?” He spat the name out.   
How could he explain? “This isn’t… I’m not here to fight.” If he ever saw Yoda again, he was sure he’d get a good whack for this one. Luke continued to watch him. But he didn’t kill him either, which was encouraging. “I know this doesn’t make sense, but I need to help Rey.”  
“Rey left for the Supremacy.” He brought the lightsaber closer.   
“Uncle Luke, please.” When was the last time he’d called him that?  
Emotion flicked behind his uncle’s eyes and he paused. Though Ben couldn’t feel it, he recognized his uncle feeling through the Force. His eyes rounded with surprise and he stepped back. “Ben?”  
Ben let out the breath he’d been holding. “Yes. It’s me.”  
Luke took another step back, as if he’d been struck. “How is this…” He looked skyward, as if seeking an answer from beyond. “You’re not… from here, are you?”  
How easily his uncle understood things. As a child, Ben had admired him as a hero and wise counselor. Growing older, however, and under Snoke’s sway, he had slowly begun to resent him and wonder if he was really as powerful as he pretended to be. Luke stepped back and he realized he was waiting for him to stand. He did so slowly, still careful not to move too suddenly.   
“What’s happened?” Luke asked.  
“It’s hard to explain. I don’t think I can tell you everything either.”  
Luke nodded and signaled for him to follow. “Do your best.”

“So Snoke is about to do something and you need to find a way back to Rey to warn her? Without weapon or the Force?” Luke said finally. The two of them sat in Luke’s hut, the lightsaber disengaged. There had been very few details Ben could give, save that he was from a time that had yet to pass, had turned after an intervention of the Force, had died and yet somehow wound up in the World Between Worlds after helping Rey. He had revealed nothing of his mother’s death or Palpatine’s survival. He allowed Luke to assume he had died fighting Snoke with Rey. In a way, it was true. He was sure his uncle perceived more than he let on.   
“As best as I can say,” he said.   
“But you wound up in the past and need to get back to your own time and find Rey.” Luke played thoughtfully with his chin, looking almost scholarly.  
“And hopefully I haven’t ruined everything by meeting you here.”  
“Or perhaps this meeting was meant to happen.”  
“How do you mean?”  
Luke stood and paced around the hut, hands clasped behind his back. “Rey wanted me to come back with her to the Resistance. But I didn’t see what the point was. I felt the Jedi needed to die. But now… seeing that Rey was right…” Luke turned to look at him and Ben was surprised to see his eyes misting. “Seeing you… as you could have been. As you should have been, if I hadn’t…” Suddenly, he knelt in front of Ben.  
“Forgive me,” he said quietly, almost choking. “What I did… I was reacting to a vision. It happened so fast. By the time I realized what I was doing and how foolish I was being, you were already awake and there was no time for me to explain. I can only imagine what you think of me.” Luke looked down. “I failed you. I should have known what Snoke was doing. Instead, I drove you to him. And now, all of this is my fault.”  
“No,” Ben said fiercely. “I did it. All of it. I killed them. Tai. Hennix... V-Voe.” His voice cracked as he said their names. Ben had always locked away his mind and he locked his three fellow Jedi trainees into the deepest recesses of his mind. Voe hurt the most. Tai he hadn’t been able to kill and Hennix had been an accident. But Voe…  
Luke placed a hand on his shoulder. “We can’t undo the things we’ve done. We cannot change the past.”  
“How will I go on?” Ben asked. Up to this point, he’d been preoccupied with saving Rey. There hadn’t been time to think about what he had done, that being back in the light meant lifting the shadows of all he had done as Kylo Ren.   
His uncle smiled at him. “You’re strong Ben. Stronger than you think. You were always being pulled into who you should be, how you should be. But you should be this,” he waved at Ben. “Kylo Ren, Ben Solo. All of it.” He flinched suddenly and looked around. “Something is happening. I can hear the Resistance crying out.”  
Ben’s heart sank. Snoke must be dead now. Rey might be begging him at this moment to save the Resistance. What an idiot he was.   
Luke was standing. “There is no time. You must get out of here.”  
“But how?” Ben asked, standing beside him.   
“Ach-to stands on another plane. But it is not the only planet on this plane. There are others. There is a planet called Exegol that is connected to this one.”  
Ben tamed his features into indifference. “Exegol?” he asked.  
“It is a very dangerous planet. Much like the Force has two sides, Ach-to and Exegol are a balance to one another. The connection between it and Ach-to is very unstable. It’s like a tunnel between the World Between Worlds.”  
“So it travels through time too?”  
Luke nodded. “But it’s risky. You might end up even further in the past or too far in the future.” He looked around again. “There isn’t time. You need to go or you’ll be stuck here.”  
Luke began to dig under the sparse bed in the room, finally stopping when he drew out a dusty box. “You will need a weapon, you can’t go to Exegol with nothing.” He held the box out to Ben ceremoniously. “I think you’ll find this useful.”   
The seriousness in Luke’s eyes caused Ben to pause. The box was quite old and definitely rarely opened. “What is this?”  
Luke shook the box. “No time to waste.”  
Taking the box, Ben carefully lifted the lid to find a worn old lightsaber. Drawing it from  
the box, he ignited it. When a red blade appeared, he dropped it quickly. “Who… what is this?” he snapped.  
Luke smiled sadly. “Most thought it was lost. But the truth is, I picked it up just before I escaped.”  
“Escaped from where?” Ben asked, though he was afraid he knew the answer.   
“The Death Star.” Picking the lightsaber up from the ground, he whirled the blade lightly in his hand. “It didn’t belong to my father. It belonged to the man he became. To Darth Vader.”  
Ben went cold. “I can’t take that. I won’t.”  
“I won’t make you. But I think you need this. I think it was meant for you. If you’re going to move on, you must embrace who you were.”  
“It will destroy me,” Ben said, shaking his head.   
Disengaging the lightsaber, Luke placed the lightsaber back on the ground. “The decision is yours. Just as I must now decide to do what I should have done a long time ago.”  
“What will you do?”  
Luke stopped at the door to the hut. “I must help the Resistance.”  
“Don’t,” Ben cried. Forget Yoda. “Don’t go.”  
His uncle smiled sadly at him. “They will all die if I don’t. You have your redemption. I have mine.” Before he could cross the threshold, Ben grabbed his shoulder.  
“I forgive you,” he said breathlessly. “For all of it. Please forgive me.”  
“Ben,” his uncle said, clasping Ben’s face gently. “I forgive all of it. To know that this is your future. That not everyone is gone. It is enough for me.”  
“The things… the things I’m going to say to you-”  
“They will be Kylo Ren’s words. But I will always have this moment. This moment of  
seeing you again.” Luke pulled him into a full embrace. Ben returned it, the tears and anguish he’d been feeling at this reunion finally releasing and soaking his uncle’s cloak.   
“I’m sorry,” he stammered. “Please don’t go.”  
Luke laughed. “Here I am pushing you towards your destiny while you try to keep me from mine.” Pulling away from him, Luke flashed him the smile of the young man he’d once been. “This is enough, Ben. Go to the keepers of the island. They are the guardians of the passageway. They will show you the way to go.” Holding out his hand, he added. “May the Force be with you.”  
“Uncle-” But Luke didn’t wait for him and darted from the hut. Ben resisted the urge to chase after him, clenching his fist as tightly as he could. The fallen lightsaber caught his eye on the ground and he stared at it a long time, wondering what he should do.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> I really wanted a Luke/ Ben reunion in TROS! I thought it'd be interesting to add an extra layer of meaning into Luke's redemption. Like he already knows that everything is going to be ok, which is why he is so willing to sacrifice himself at Crait. 
> 
> Also, I believe that the sequel trilogy was going in the direction of balancing the force. Hence why I decided to let Ben have Darth Vader's lightsaber. As far as I know, there is just the assumption that it blew up in the Death Star. But I may be taking some liberties here. I am also taking some liberties with the Ach-to/ Exegol dynamic and how the World Between Worlds works. But that's the fun of fanfiction!


	10. Chapter 10

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> Rey learns some surprising news.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Hope everyone is doing alright! Things are pretty shut down where I live, so I've been working from home.

“How do you know what’s happening to me?” Rey asked Luke.  
The Force Ghost apprised her nonchalantly. “I can sense the disturbance. You’ll be getting a call from Poe soon.”  
As if on cue, Finn’s communicator went off. When he tried to answer, he was met with static. He wandered away from them to see if he could get a better signal.  
“You’re not telling me the truth,” Rey snapped at Luke once Finn was out of earshot. “What are you hiding?”  
Luke flinched. “There is something. Something I want to say, but I’m not sure it’s the right thing.”  
“How about you let me decide that? You owe me that much for not telling me about my grandfather.”  
“Going to use that against me to get what you want?"  
“Yes!” she snapped.   
“Had I told you, you would have taken Ben’s hand on the Supremacy. You would have both wound up on the throne.”  
“You don’t know that. And I don’t remember your visions of Ben’s future being much help either.” Luke's eyes grew pained. “I’m sorry. I’m just so…”  
“Angry,” Luke said, with a nod. “Well, perhaps this will give you hope.” He paused again, looking around nervously. “I’d better tell you before Yoda comes and makes me change my mind.” Yet he didn’t speak again.  
“Well?” Rey snapped.  
“I saw Ben.”  
Her throat tightened. “Is he… will he be coming to see me? I haven’t been able to feel him.” More like she felt him all the time. But he would never appear.   
“He is coming. But not the way you think.”  
Sour disappointment seeped into her heart. “I don’t understand. I thought…” What had she thought? Their last moments had been such a flurry of emotion. There hadn’t been any time to process what it had meant. She recalled his brilliant smile, the way it had made her heart sing. But perhaps it hadn’t meant what she thought. “I will always be with you,” he’d said. Anger filled her chest. That had been a lie.  
Luke held up his hand as if to hold her off. “I mean, I didn’t see him recently. I saw him over a year ago. Before Crait.”  
Something like hope tried to bloom inside her but she stifled it down. What he was saying made no sense. Crait was the first time he had seen Ben since the fateful night at the temple as far as she knew. But there was something even odder about Luke’s words.   
“You said you saw Ben before Crait. You called him Ben, not Kylo Ren.”  
“Yes,” Luke said, nodding impatiently as he had at Ach-to. The afterlife had done little to stem his petulance.   
“I don’t understand.”  
“Ben is… alive.”  
Rey felt as if the ground had opened up beneath her and she stumbled backwards, trying to keep herself from falling in. “Why would you say that?” The hope was blooming in her chest and she tried futilely to stymie it back down. If she was somehow misunderstanding his words, the disappointment would crush her.   
“When I saw him, he was Ben, not Kylo Ren. You had left for the Supremacy when I found him on Ach-to. I thought he was Kylo Ren, having found your whereabouts after you reached out to each other. But when I saw his face and he spoke to me…” Luke paused, a small smile creeping across his lips. “He told me you and he had fought a great evil together and that he’d died. I’d assumed he’d meant Snoke. He didn’t give me many details, he was worried it would somehow affect the future. But after Palpatine returned, I began to piece together what really happened.”  
“That’s why you went to face him on Crait. You knew he would turn eventually,” Rey said, breathless.  
Luke was about to speak, when Finn returned, looking pale. “What’s wrong?” Rey asked.  
His eyes were glistening. “The Stormtroopers… Poe said they went crazy, like something is controlling them. Rey… they’re all dead.” His lips trembled.  
Rey reached out to him. “I’m so sorry, Finn.”  
Wiping his eyes, Finn added, “He wants us to come back to Coruscant. He wants us to take the Falcon from there to Exegol.”  
“Exegol?” Luke snapped, eyes wide.  
“Poe seems to think maybe a certain dead Sith lord may be not so dead. Again. He rigged the Falcon up so it would be able to find Exegol again”  
Rey’s stomach twisted nervously. She wanted to ask Luke more, find out where she could find Ben. She knew she should investigate Exegol, but if Ben was out there somewhere…  
As if sensing her thoughts, Luke tapped her shoulder. “You should go to Exegol. I think you’ll find exactly what you’re looking for there.” He looked at her with meaning and she felt the empty vacuum of her heart begin to fill.   
“Yes,” she said, nodding. “We should go.”  
“Are we not going to talk about…” Finn pointed at the dead Sith cultists. A pang of guilt stung Rey. She picked up one of the lightsabers the cultists had taken and looked it over. Judging by the wear of the hilt, it was quite old. She passed it over to Luke.  
“Why didn’t they have Sith sabers?” she asked.  
Luke rolled the lightsaber in his palm. “These men could sense and manipulate the Force a little. But not in the way of a true Sith.” He rubbed the hilt a little, then gasped. Looking a little closer, he spit on the ground.  
“What?” asked Finn.  
“This lightsaber is from a murdered Jedi.” Luke held the hilt up so they could see a small 66 etched into it.   
“What does it mean?” Rey asked.  
“It’s from the Clone Wars. Order 66. It was an order issued to the Clone Army to murder all the remaining Jedi. Afterwards, it became popular for smugglers to sell their lightsabers on the black market.” Luke shook his head distastefully. Then he handed the lightsaber to Finn, who held it like a hot ember.  
“What am I supposed to do with it?” He gasped.  
“It belongs in the hands of a Jedi,” Luke insisted. “You can give it a better fate.” He tossed the other lightsaber to Finn. “You could probably use the extra protection too.”  
Finn gawked at the two lightsabers in his hands. “I don’t know about this…”  
“We should get back to Poe, before something else happens,” Rey snapped, suddenly impatient. Seeing the surprise on Finn’s face, she softened. “I’m sorry, Finn. It’s just… Luke’s right. I can feel Palpatine. I can control it for now. But if I can do this,” she pointed at the fallen cultist, “I’m worried I don’t have much time.”  
Finn nodded with understanding. “Alright,” he said. He looped the lightsabers to his belt and made an awkward salute to Luke before turning back towards their shuttle.   
Rey reached out a hand to Luke and he took it. “Thank you,” she said, voice cracking ever so slightly.  
“Be careful, Rey. Palpatine is doing things that go against the very foundations of the Force. That sort of meddling can create huge destruction.”  
She nodded. “I hope to see you again.”  
He smiled. “Can’t get rid of me that easily.”  
With a firm squeeze, he disappeared. Rey ran after Finn, who had slowed down to wait for you.  
“So, you gonna tell me what you two were talking about so seriously before?” he asked.  
“You’re not going to like it,” she said.   
As they headed into the shuttle and she explained, he most definitely did not like it.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Hang in there! The reunion is coming SOON!


End file.
